The state representative Alicia Reece has introduced a bill that would reduce
the number of reasons for making voters cast provisional ballots and
also clarifies that election officials will be held responsible for
errors instead of blaming voters.

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Cincinnati’s new
police chief, James Craig, who began his job in August, already is making some
welcome and long overdue changes. Ten supervisors and 40 officers are
being transferred from the department’s numerous specialized units and
put on street patrol.

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The
Organizations of Noteworthy Excellence (ONE) program recognized six
Greater Cincinnati nonprofit organizations for their systems
effectiveness and performance results. The groups were the Assistance
League, Cincinnati Union Bethel, 4C for Children, Redwood, the Society
of St. Vincent DePaul and the Children’s Home of Cincinnati.

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It took an Ohioan to help
President Obama finally grow a pair and show some leadership. Obama last
week flexed his executive authority and appointed Cordray, Ohio’s
former attorney general and treasurer, as the first director of the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

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Ben-Gals cheerleader and
Edgewood school teacher Sarah Jones won $11 million in a default
judgment in summer 2010 arising from a libel lawsuit she filed against Thedirty.com,
a gossip website.

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After serving 20 years
for allegedly committing several rapes near Dayton, Dean Gillispie was
released from prison Dec. 22 based on the work of City Councilwoman
Laure Quinlivan and the Ohio Innocence Project.

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Never one to pass up an
opportunity to make headlines, Hamilton County’s prosecutor inserted
himself into the outrage over the 10-second fight that broke out among
players during the Crosstown Shootout.

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Social Venture Partners announced
Dec. 8 that it would award nearly $160,000 in cash and in-kind services
to four nonprofit groups to help them create sustainable organizational
effectiveness. SVP will give $4,000 to the Civic Garden Club and $12,000
each to German Heritage Farm, Imago for the Earth and Whole Again
International.

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The Cincinnati Recreation Commission
(CRC) was reaccredited by the National Recreation & Parks
Association, and is one of just 97 agencies nationwide to receive the
distinction.

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Disturbed by the large number of Bengals games that aren’t allowed to
be aired on TV stations in Cincinnati, Dayton and Lexington, Ky., Sen. Sherrod Brown
has proposed the Federal Communications Commission repeal or revise the
“sports blackout rule,” a 1970s-era regulation that allows the NFL to
prohibit broadcasts of a local sports game when the event doesn’t sell
out.

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Led by City
Councilwoman Laure Quinlivan, Cincinnati officials recently expanded the
mobile food vending program by creating new zones near Fountain Square.
So far at least two vendors — Tim Hurst of Vinnie’s Gourmet
Pretzels and Tom Acito of Café de Wheels — have said they will use the
zones, and more are sure to follow.

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As it turns out, the
Occupy Cincinnati protesters who were arrested for camping overnight in
downtown’s Piatt Park for nearly two weeks might not have violated any
law. That’s the opinion of Municipal Court Judge David Stockdale, who
sent a letter last week to city prosecutors and his fellow judges.

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Berding resigned from Cincinnati City Council in March, after he
butted heads with his fellow Democrats in council chambers and berated
them on WLW (700 AM). After Jeff lost support from the police and
firefighter unions for his flip-flop on layoffs, his last bastion of
support evaporated. Berding retired to the comfort of his office at Paul
Brown Stadium.

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In what might be one of the
most overdue actions at City Hall in many years, a Massachusetts-based
consulting firm will conduct a comprehensive audit of the Police
Department. City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. hired Strategic Policy
Partnership to perform the audit over the next three months, at a cost
of $61,000, at the urging of newly hired Police Chief James Craig.

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When developers of the
under-construction Cincinnati casino came to the Oct. 24 meeting of the
Hamilton County Commission to give an update on the project, Commission
President Greg Hartmann was nowhere in sight. That’s because Hartmann
flew to his native Texas so he could attend two World Series games with
his dad. That might not be so bad if it was a rare occurrence, but it’s
not. An Enquirer analysis showed that Hartmann has missed seven
of the group’s 67 meetings this year, or 10.7 percent.

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One of Cincinnati’s
unique treasures is celebrating a major anniversary this year. Mount
Airy Forest, the 1,471-acre park and nature preserve on the city’s
northwest edge, was established 100 years ago. The Park Board
commemorated the event earlier this month with a day-long event that
included songs, storytelling and historical reenactments.

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The city's Health Department will
administer a $760,000 grant from the state to create the Reproductive
Health Improvement Collaborative, in conjunction with University
Hospital’s Center for Women’s Health. The new initiative will try to
lessen health disparities in 19 area zip codes — mostly low-income areas
— that have high Infant Mortality Rates.

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People who live on the
streets and have mental problems soon will get some much-needed help.
Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health Services recently received a
$300,000 grant from the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati to fund a
three-year joint project with the Cincinnati Health Network.

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The overcrowded,
dilapidated bridge on Interstate 75 that connects Cincinnati to Northern
Kentucky got a shout-out last week from the main man. President Obama
mentioned the rusty steel structure in his Aug. 8 speech to Congress as
an example of projects that could be expedited if his jobs plan is
approved.

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Maybe Bortz, the Charterite
attorney who is seeking his fourth term on Cincinnati City Council,
doesn’t own a calculator. That’s about the only reason we can think of
that Bortz would complain to The Enquirer that he’s tired of
hearing from council’s Democrats that he doesn’t have a plan to avoid a
$33 million deficit next year. As proof that he does, Bortz listed cuts
that would eliminate half that amount. That’s right — half.